


Brothers

by meridianpony



Series: Meridian's Clone Wars One-shots [3]
Category: Star Wars - All Media Types, Star Wars: The Clone Wars (2008) - All Media Types
Genre: Angst, Gen, Mind Manipulation, Torture, Whump, why didn't maul kill jesse???
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-04-29
Updated: 2020-04-29
Packaged: 2021-03-01 19:47:21
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,732
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23902564
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/meridianpony/pseuds/meridianpony
Summary: Maul tears through his mind like a rancor through flimsi, smashing aside Jesse’s weak protests with terrifying ease. His presence burns. Like someone’s set a white-hot coal on the top of his head and is just letting it burn its way down, deeper and deeper into his brain. It’s a bright, piercing agony that Jesse can’t get away from, no matter how much he struggles against the Mandalorian forcing his arms behind his back.
Series: Meridian's Clone Wars One-shots [3]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1777519
Comments: 18
Kudos: 229





	Brothers

**Author's Note:**

> Ok I was just in an angst-writing mood and Jesse is an easy target heh
> 
> I don't know if we'll find out why Maul let Jesse live in an upcoming episode, or if it'll turn out that it literally means nothing, but I kept seeing posts on tumblr about why Maul didn't just kill him and decided to write something because why not! I wrote this really fast and didn't really edit it but we die like men, apparently XD

Maul tears through his mind like a rancor through flimsi, smashing aside Jesse’s weak protests with terrifying ease. His presence _burns._ Like someone’s set a white-hot coal on the top of his head and is just letting it burn its way down, deeper and deeper into his brain. It’s a bright, piercing agony that Jesse can’t get away from, no matter how much he struggles against the Mandalorian forcing his arms behind his back. 

The Sith wrenches his mind wide open and starts picking away at Jesse’s memories. Jesse cries out, because every time Maul grabs at something, it sends a fresh lightning bolt of pain through his entire nervous system and leaves him shuddering, gasping for air and jerking to try and throw himself backwards, distance himself from torture. They don’t let him move. 

His memories of Commander Tano, of the child she was and the warrior that she’s become, are laid out for the Zabrak to see. There is a moment where Jesse, in one last desperate attempt to protect her, rallies what remains of his fragile mind and grabs onto a memory at random, struggling to pull it away from Maul: _Commander Tano, sparring fiercely against General Skywalker in the Resolute’s hanger as Torrent Company cheers and calls out commentary_ —Jesse shoves out mentally, teeth clenched so hard that his jaw hurts, and somehow manages to slow the Sith’s invading will. It doesn’t do much, but for an instant, Maul pauses.

“Be still,” he says softly—gently, like he’s trying to sooth Jesse into compliance. The tone sends a shiver down Jesse’s spine.

And then Maul’s mind slams into Jesse’s with the force of a falling meteorite, and Jesse _howls_ as mental blades tear the rest of his willpower to shreds.

He loses track of things after that. Maul denies him any semblance of control, and it _burns, it hurts_ and Jesse _can’t get away._

He stops trying to fight, after a while. It doesn’t do any good, just makes the pain shift from glaring red to white-hot and he can’t stop little helpless whimpers from falling from his lips. If it goes on for hours or mere seconds he can’t say, because Maul takes his mind apart and pulls out what he needs, memory fragments sending shards of fire through Jesse’s brain as they’re misplaced and every sensation of time is lost. 

It’s nothing short of _violation._ Jesse feels used, like everything that Maul touches in his mind is suddenly contaminated, covered in dark sludge that dull the light of fond memories. 

He barely even notices when Maul stops because his head is throbbing, too full of pain and sharp edges for him to even see two feet in front of him. No one is holding him anymore—they don’t need to, he can’t even move. The trembles racing down his spine make him hurt enough as it is, he doesn’t dare rise from where he’s slumped on his knees. 

His temples _ache._ He can’t even bring himself to react when a pistol is shoved up against his chin, only groans in agony, eyes rolling back in his head.

“Sir,” the Mandalorian says, waiting for the order to kill him, and Jesse knows he’s about to die. Know it with such certainty that it shuts him down, and he lets his weight sag, head bowing in resignation regardless of the gun underneath him. 

He closes his eyes and tries to think of something better. Tries to think of Kix _(gone_ , _disappeared off the face of the galaxy and no one cares enough to search, no one knows where he is_ — _),_ of Rex, of Vaughn, of Sterling, of his _brothers,_ because he had wanted to go out surrounded by them instead of here, on his knees in front of a kriffing Sith with enemies all around him—

“Wait.”

Maul’s voice sends cold terror through Jesse’s body. He cracks his eyes open to peer at the red-black blur in front of him and moans when an invisible force approaches his mind again. Jesse pants desperately for air, panicking as it looms closer. He _can’t._ He won’t survive this again. He can’t he can’t it _hurts_ — 

“N-no, _stop_ —!”

Jesse writhes, fingers scrabbling across the smooth metal beneath him, seeking purchase even though there’s none to be found. It does no good. Maul forces his way into Jesse’s mind again without resistance. Jesse goes limp, shivering helplessly on the floor and wishing for death. He can’t stop it, can’t fight. Maul’s presence still burns, but the sensation is a little more subdued this time.

What more could Maul possibly want? He already has Jesse’s memories of Commander Tano. There’s nothing more for him to take.

Maul’s presence gives off a vague sense of curiosity that makes Jesse let out a horrified groan. The Sith reaches for memories again. Jesse jerks as they flash in front of his eyes—

 _Umbara, horror and fear as he stands to be executed and Kix points a rifle at him. 79’s, downing shots with the rest of Torrent, laughing too hard, surrounded by brothers and safety. Ringo Vinda, awful and numb as Tup guns down a Jedi. Saleucami, joking with Rex as they’re reunited after the Captain’s brief excursion. Umbara again, mind screaming in denial as Hardcase orders them to leave, dragging the explosives with him and Jesse knows that it’s a one-way trip and Hardcase is going to die_ —

Maul’s presence recoils slightly at the last one. A groan is torn from Jesse’s throat as Maul retracts, _too fast too forceful Force it’s like someone’s pulling nails from his head._ Jesse gets a brief flash of an image that he’s never seen before—of a Zabrak, not Maul, eyes flashing, tattoos gold where Maul’s are red and—what—?

Maul leaves him. Jesse is shaking. He curls himself up on the floor and tries to make himself as small as he can, fingers clutching helplessly at his skull in a futile attempt to protect it. He chokes for air, each breath dragging audibly against his lungs. The sound is painfully loud in the silence of the tunnel. 

“Just kill me already,” he gasps, voice hoarse. “Just kill me. What else do you _want?_ ”

A hand settles at the back of his skull. Not for the purpose of comfort, just… there. Jesse freezes.

“Tragic,” Maul says softly. “So loyal, so fierce. And yet… the time fast approaches when it will be used against you.”

Jesse imagines twisting and sinking his teeth into the Sith’s hand. The idea is tempting, but he still hurts too much to try. 

“I had brothers once,” Maul says. Jesse swallows, trying to decide if he’s imagining the fragile grief echoing through those words. Maul lets go of him, steps back. Jesse waits for a lightsaber to slash through him, for the Mandalorians to finally finish the job, but no one moves. 

“Get him up. He will accompany me to the throne room,” Maul announces. 

“Sir,” a Mandalorian acknowledges. Jesse pants through his teeth and struggles to stay conscious as they tug him to his knees again, _too kriffing fast his head swims and his vision blurs._ Kriff. 

Later, when Jesse has collected his wits a little more, when he’s shoved to kneel next to an ornate throne, when there are binders tight around his wrists, he struggles to comprehend what he’d heard. 

_I had brothers once._

Commander Tano shows up, with Bo-Katan and Rex in tow. Jesse thinks that surely, _now_ he’ll die. But Maul _releases him._ Jesse is broken, barely able to stand by himself, a painful drumbeat pounding through his head, and he half expects to get cut down before Rex can reach him—Rex, whose face goes terrifyingly blank when he sees Jesse, eyes dark like he’s already expecting Jesse to die and mentally preparing himself to lose someone else.

“There you go, back to your brothers,” Maul croons, and for an instant, Jesse gets it. 

_I had brothers once._

He stumbles into Rex’s arms and grunts out an apology to the Commander, who’s eyes narrow as she looks him over. 

“Rex, get him out of here,” she orders, turning back to the Sith. Rex doesn’t need to be told twice. Jesse can feel the Captain’s hands trembling on his shoulders. They make their way through hallways in silence save Jesse’s labored breathing. Once they’re a good distance away, Rex guides Jesse to sit down, back against the wall, and runs his hands over Jesse’s body, checking him over for injuries. He won’t find anything but bruises. Jesse isn’t injured in the way they usually see. 

“ _Force,_ Jesse,” Rex mutters shakily. “Kriffing—I thought—”

He doesn’t need to finish the sentence. Jesse knows what he would have thought. Jesse himself has thought it many times, and it normally doesn’t end like this. He offers Rex a weak grin. 

“Takes more than a kriffing horn-head to get rid of me, sir,” he rasps, and Rex fakes an eye roll, pulling Jesse in for a hug. Jesse is one of the last surviving members of the original Torrent Company, and he can’t help but think that it would have destroyed Rex had Jesse died at Maul’s hand. 

They’ve lost far too many brothers in this war. Jesse thinks of Maul again, shuffling through the memories of Jesse’s brothers curiously and then—

_I had brothers once._

Jesse doesn’t know how to interpret that, exactly. Maul has killed clones before. The sudden bout of empathy doesn’t make of lick of sense, but Jesse is alive anyway, holding on tight to Rex, his brother, and he’s so relieved that he almost forgets his pain. 

It’s an odd thing, to be grateful towards your torturer. Jesse feels it more for Rex’s sake than his own. 

An explosion rocks the building. Rex lets go of Jesse, expression hardening. 

“We’re getting you to medical, and then I’ve got to get out there,” he states, looking Jesse over again. “You alright?”

Jesse almost laughs. It’s hard to even _think_ right now. But he’ll be alright. He has to be alright, because there’s no place for broken soldiers in this army. 

“Yeah,” he says, and does _not_ think of Maul, does not think of the gold-black Zabrak in Maul’s head or the way he’d placed a gentle hand on Jesse’s neck and whispered of twisted loyalty. “Yeah, I’ll be alright.”

**Author's Note:**

> If anyone wants to come scream with me about star wars, you can always find me on tumblr @meridiansdominoes!


End file.
